Kevin Michael Bloor

The Old

The old forget, or so I’m told,
when they come in from out the cold.
They oft repeat the tale they tell.
Their homes breathe out a special smell.

The old were young in days gone by,
as beautiful as butterfly,
till time crept up on them too soon,
entwined them in a cruel cocoon.

The old can laugh and joke and smile.
Their skin’s as thick as crocodile.
They\'re armor-clad ‘gainst all attacks,
bombastic as a battle-axe!

The old are fearless, so, offend.
Their bodies are too hard to bend,
but with their tongues they still can lash
the hypocrites and trailer trash.

The old survived; they’ve lived to tell
the secrets of the sounding shell.
Alone, washed up on shifting sand?
Go tell the old, they’ll understand!